San Francisco, CA—Today the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Americans for Responsible Solutions released a comprehensive policy toolkit on the deadly connection between guns and domestic violence. By documenting existing law and offering concrete, actionable solutions for implementing new, commonsense gun laws, the Law Center and ARS are providing legislators with the tools they need to create policies that will close gaps in federal law and keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

Legal experts from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence are immediately available for interviews on the deadly and all too common role guns play in domestic violence in the United States. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Commonsense Solutions: State Laws to Address Gun Violence Against Women highlights how smart gun laws can reduce the number of domestic violence incidents that end in death. American women are particularly at risk of domestic violence incidents. Some facts:

Women in the United States are 11 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than women in peer countries.

More than half of all murders of women are committed with a gun.

Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser has access to a firearm.

Domestic violence assaults involving a gun are 12 times more likely to result in death than those involving other weapons or bodily force.

Part of an ongoing partnership between the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the leading source for policy information on gun laws, and Americans for Responsible Solutions, founded by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Commonsense Solutions: State Laws to Address Gun Violence Against Women is the second release in a series of toolkits that address gun policy through the lens of specific topics such as background checks and mental health.

Commonsense Solutions: State Laws to Address Gun Violence Against Women is a comprehensive resource for lawmakers and advocates, providing specifics on statutes and regulations and offering detailed proposals for smart laws that state legislators across the country can introduce to prevent domestic abusers from accessing guns. The policy recommendations, many of which address loopholes in current federal law, include:

Ensuring that anyone who has been convicted of violence against a dating partner cannot purchase or own guns.

Closing the “stalker gap” to prevent people convicted of misdemeanor stalking from owning guns.

Please contact media@smartgunlaws.org interview requests or further information on domestic violence and guns.

Spokespeople include:

Robyn Thomas—Robyn Thomas is currently serving in her eighth year as the executive director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. A national nonprofit organization founded by attorneys, the Law Center is focused on providing comprehensive legal research and expertise in support of smart gun laws that save lives. Robyn is a lawyer with more than a decade of experience working on complex policy at the state and federal level and an expert on gun regulation and Second Amendment litigation nationwide.

Lindsay Nichols—Lindsay Nichols is a staff attorney at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Lindsay has been with the Law Center for eight years and during that time she has analyzed, compared, drafted, and promoted gun laws across the country. Having authored a number of reports about gun legislation, Lindsay is available to provide information about a variety of policy options available to address this horrifying problem.

About the Law Center to Prevent Gun ViolenceThe Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly known as the Legal Community Against Violence) was founded after the 1993 shooting in San Francisco that left eight dead. Today, it is a prominent national law center focused on providing comprehensive legal expertise in support of gun violence prevention. As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, the Law Center is dedicated to preventing the loss of lives caused by gun violence by providing trusted, in-depth legal expertise and information on America’s gun laws. The Law Center partners with state legislators, advocates, community groups and others to advance its mission to prevent gun violence in America.